Texans Tour of London: Day 3

London Marathon Training: Week 16 of 19
Thursday target run: rest day

As the Hachie Gal fit in her long run, Budman, J, and JB headed for a full day's extravaganza tour of Tower Hill. Continuing with that Tudor theme, they must have looked at every nook and cranny, every building, every museum, the crown jewels, traitors gate, and of course, the ravens. So much so that the Hachie Gal was not only able to fit in her run but still have time to shower/dress, and head to Convent Garden for an hour of so of shopping as she waited for the day trippers to arrive.

















Views of Tower Bridge from Tower Hill





After a late afternoon meal and some shopping in Covent Garden, our little foursome headed over to St. Paul's Cathedral for evensong.









To top the whole night off, we gorged on fish and chips back at the house. A perfect ending to a great day!

Texans Tour of London: Day 2

London Marathon Training: Week 16 of 19
Wednesday target run: 45 minutes

Day 2 of the Texans visit greeted us with what was to be our start every day for the coming 8 days: utter and complete sunshine in London. The weather was picture perfect as you will see in all the photos from this week. Consecutive days of good weather, let alone perfect weather, is unheard of in London. We were glad to be able to offer up this sunshine and decent temperatures to our guests, since the previous Texans' visit to Germany 2 years ago (during the same time of year, I might add) had resulted in daily snowfalls and desperately cold weather.

Our itinerary for day two included a trip to Henry VIII's summer palace, Hampton Court. After a quick train ride, we arrived at Hampton Court ready for a Tudor filled day. And that is just what we got! Our first glimpses of Hampton Court.





Upon entry, we headed first to the gardens where were greeted by English springtime in full bloom.





The formal gardens.



Four texans lost in a garden maze.





Hampton Court is really the story of two palaces: a Tudor palace, magnificently developed by Cardinal Wolsey and later Henry VIII, alongside a baroque palace built by William III and Mary II. Being that 2009 is the 500th anniversary of Henry VIII's ascension to the throne, and where so many royals, including Tudors, Stuarts, heirs from the house of Orange and so forth spent their time, we decided to spend a bit of time exploring the palace and grounds.

The entrance to Hank's pad....









The architecture of Hampton Court.















One of the exhibits in Hampton Court is a replication of the Tudor Kitchens. Built to feed the court of Henry VIII, these kitchens were designed to feed at least 600 people twice a day. The annual provision of meat for the Tudor court stood at 1,240 oxen, 8,200 sheep, 2,330 deer, 760 calves, 1,870 pigs and 53 wild boar. This was all washed down with 600,000 gallons of beer.















Our final views of Hampton Court and the river Thames.







The Texans catch a few "zzzzs" on the train ride back home before a Moroccan meal in central London.

The "Texans Tour of London" commences

London Marathon Training: Week 16 of 19
Tuesday target run: 16 x 30 seconds

Although the Texans are long gone, the sightseeing did not allow for the blog posting to keep pace...so a little homage over the next few days to the week's festivities.

Day one saw the arrival of J and JB in London; after a full English breakfast and a nap, our little foursome headed to central London for afternoon tea at Fortnum and Mason's. That's the thing about house guests...they get you out to see and do alot of the things you been meaning to see and do as London city dwellers.

Entrance to Fortnum and Mason's department store.



Don't let those little cakes and finger sandwiches fool you...they can be quite filling.





We even did a little pre and post b-day celebrating for the boys.

After afternoon tea, we wandered a bit in F&M's department store...quite lovely, especially the perfume counter.



Next stop: show #1 of the week: Billy Elliott. What a show...those little guys can sure dance!





And so, feeling quite energized by the day's events, we all concluded that the week was off to a rip-roaring start. Next day, we were headed to Hampton Court!